The tiny village in Croatia with a huge Mercedes love affair. . . 
Restriction: None Photo: Stipe Surac Where might you find the highest per-capita level of Mercedes-Benz ownership in the world? Stuttgart? Beverly Hills? No, infact the honour goes to a tiny village in a poor region of Croatia. Grubine, population eight hundred, is home to nearly three hundred Mercedes. It is a phonomenon that has its origins in the 1970s as young men from what was then part of Yugoslavia would migrate to find work in the factories of West Germany. After labouring hard for a few years and saving their money they would drive back to the East to impress family and friends with the most prized status symbol they could find - a Mercedes-Benz. The tradition continues to this day. Locals joke that the first word a toddler manages to say is usually 'Mercedes' and the obsession of village elders has been firmly passed down to the young people in the village. They just wouldn't be seen in anything else. Although there are new models to be found, many of the Mercedes in the village could generously be described as 'vintage'. But there are also some true classics and the pride of the village is a 1952 Mecedes 170SD, one of only eight remaining in the world. Queen Elizabeth owns one, Bill Clinton owns one. And so does Vjeko Lasic. It's in beautiful condition with 107,000 kilometers and 3,500 hous of restoration work behind it. Could this kind of devotion ever be shown towards Toyota or Kia? For the people of Grubine there is nothing beyond Stuttgart, but only time will tell.
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